Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Elise got her braces off today and she was sure excited to get to the orthodontist's office today! We met John for lunch and ate cheesy pizza-no problem when you don't have braces. Isn't she beautiful?!

Monday, November 26, 2012

After a great deal of wiggling, Jebb has lost his first front tooth on top. He was trying to pry it loose while everyone was still here for Thanksgiving, but he managed to get it out today! This guy is determined to grow up-even if I don't approve! :)

Saturday, November 24, 2012

The weekend was winding down, but we had a few outings left in us. We went to watch a scrimage Gabe had over in Ignacio. He is #10 and while I was glad I got a pic of him making a fade-away basket, I was REALLY glad I got a pic of everyone in the stands watching. That blonde stat chic with the glasses is not related to us just fyi.

We went up into the mountains midday and cut down a Christmas tree! There was much hiking and hunting. The Hannays got several as they are experienced at this type of thing. We just got one, and it looked like it was just the right size.

We bid farewell to the Utah kids today. It was so nice having them, I especially liked having Weston here. My parents finished up their mission not too long ago, so it was nice to have them around too.

Having a family Thanksgiving is a great was to kick off the Holiday Season!

Friday, November 23, 2012

What is the best thing to eat the day after a Thanksgiving feast? That's right, Mexican food! We hit Tequila's after a lazy day of cousin bonding. But our night was just beginning, and we headed home to get creative.

The Ross sisters were hard at work to get ready for the Great GBread Making Event of 2012. We made frosting, glued houses, and set out the candy.

We got everything ready and let the building begin. Everyone worked intently and came up with some pretty good stuff.

There were some really creative builds going on. I have no idea what Papa Ross was doing in the next picture except trying to look crazy. ;)

Weston build a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired building. Elise and Nate made a tower with a licorice Rapunzel braid hanging out of it.

It was fun to see how unique they all were. Some focuses on asthetics and some went for pure function (maximum candy to be eaten later).

Thursday, November 22, 2012

This year for Thanksgiving we had the immense pleasure of having the Martins drive North and the Rosses and Hannays drive South, all converging our home! Yeah!

We worked hard to get prepared. We moved beds to new rooms and shined everything up in anticipation. Of course there was food to make and eat! We got right to work!

Elise works on a pie

Although we had the entire week off, everyone else had to wait until Wednesday to come. It was great to see everyone again and the boys all worked on getting reacquainted.

Today we were all ready for some family fun. Some of the more crazy ones among us decided to awake early and participate in a Turkey Trot up at the college. Thank you Martin family for representing!

Many of the men went to the annual Turkey Bowl held at the Middle School. No serious injuries this year, which is a plus, and I think everyone played like super stars! ;)

Once we were all back together we decided it might be nice to go bowling for lunch, then have an evening meal all together. So we headed to the ol' Casino for some lane time.

By the time we got home and got to cooking, it wasn't long until it was time for our Thanksgiving Day meal. It was fun to cook with my sisters and Kim even convinced me to do mashed potatoes from scratch instead of my instant (I know, instant mashers on TG is pretty lame, but I like them).

The Gang

The Big Boy table + Elise

The Grown up table

There is something nice about just sharing a meal all together. I LOVE IT!

After dinner we all just hung out and chatted it up before we pulled out all of the pie.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Jebb has been studying the planet Mars in a unit at school. Their class studied the rover that was sent there and imagined what it might be like to colonize Mars. Jebb has been really enthusiastic about it and even built his own Rover. Tonight the class had a celebration of all things Mars and we got to go to the school and see all of the things they learned.

Heading to the class-Jebb and his Rover

Jebb and his community he might build there

Jebb gives a report on Mars. Red papercovered the lights and gave a red glow.

I was pleased to see Jebb so enthusiastic about the Mars unit. I think their class studied and worked really hard and it showed by the pride that they all took in showing the parents what they had done. Jebb has a really great teacher this year for 2nd grade, Mrs. Smith. Elise was fortunate to have her in 5th grade and if we are lucky, she will move to a grade where Jackson can have her too. ;)

Politcal Sidenote: The kids learned all about Sustainable Development which is a hot topic in our local politics right now. They learned there are too many people and we need to be managed and clustered into smaller spaces (apartment buildings for example). I never cease to be surprised by the increasingly green ideology that permeates all of their school work. Global warming is another popular reading/writing topic. When Gabe did his 2nd grade community project, he asked to make the town gravel pit in the classroom's 'city'. I was glad that he unknowingly brought up mineral resources to be discussed. ;).

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Last night for Family Home Evening, we decided to write letters to my nephew. He has been called to serve in Africa, but has only gotten as far as Provo, Utah. That is where the Missionary Training Center is located. It is a place where teenage boys go to get a crash course in a foreign language and Gospel teaching skills.

All of the letters were nice, but I wanted to remember Jackson's which has a picture of an African tree and a missionary moment.

Jebb's letter was so funny to me because I watched him write it and didn't help him on spelling. I told him to sound things out the best he could. I noticed that he does not know that when we say "MTC," we are referring to the acronym for the Missionary Training Center. In Jebb's mind, Eric has been at the Emty Sea preparing to go to Africa. So cute! And just further proof that the written word is important.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Elise is still playing the violin this year and got to participate in a concert at the College with students from both Middle Schools and the High School. I was a little bummed because she was in the very, very back of the crowd and it was hard to see her. I was with J&J and we tried to move up higher in the auditorium to catch a glimpse of her, but it was almost as if she was avoiding being seen.

She played several numbers and I enjoyed it very much, even if I had to just see her bow moving up and down.

When the concert was over, I realized why she seemed to be hiding. Apparently she was. She had worn turquoise tennis shoes instead of the standard black and had been extremely embarrassed when someone called her out on it. I felt bad that it ruined (in her mind) her whole performance, but I remember how it is to be 13 too. Next time I am sure she will be better prepared and hopefully I will get a better picture of her.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

I am still in shock about the elections. I don't see my dismay and confusion lessening any time soon. I was the Chair for the Romney campaign in our county during the primaries and I thought we had a real shot at winning. The LPCR held a Victory Party on election night where we could all come, hang out, and see the results. It was a painful night. Not only did we lose the Presidential elections, but we lost local races as well. I sat in this morning on a recount going on to see if the R candidate won in an extremely close vote as County Commissioner, and it doesn't look good. Our State Rep. lost as well. It was ugly all over and the Victory Party lost a lot of it's earlier fun as the night wore on and the writing started appearing on the wall.

Before the election results

The kids come to see the results

I brought all of my kids to the party for a while so they could see what all of the stuff I had been doing was about. Too bad it was for naught. I talked for a long time on the phone today with a friend of mine in the Denver area. She is a shell shocked as I am. She had been making calls for weeks leading up to the election for Romney. We both thought he was such an obviously superior choice that we cannot believe he lost. I respect the vote of the people, but sometimes I just want to shake the people! My biggest disappointment has been the infighting in the Republican Party. It is frustrating to me that people just complain and refuse to vote when their candidate drops out. Hugely frustrating!

I am sad an anxious to see what will happen business wise over the next 4 years. My home town of Page, AZ faces having the NGS (coal fired power plant) shut down under this administration's EPA. I would devastate the entire town. We literally had contractors telling us that they were waiting to see how the election goes before they will let any more work to us. If Romney won, they said, we would have excavation jobs with them for the next 10 years. If not, we would 'wait and see.' I heard the Romney camp is as shocked as anyone. I talked to a staffer at the Paul Ryan rally that said their internal polling (typically very accurate) had Romney winning. Dang. I guess it is 'wait and see.'

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About Me

I'm a SAH Mom with 5 ridiculously gorgeous kids. I am married to a true Renaissance man. I like to travel and see new things, but I always love coming home to my own bed. I am an active member of the Mormon church and am trying to Choose the Right (usually!).